


Camp Cipher

by Azia (orphan_account)



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Blood and Injury, Demonic Possession, M/M, Masochism, Mental Health Issues, Minor Original Character(s), Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-18
Updated: 2015-03-09
Packaged: 2018-03-13 14:25:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3385082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Azia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three words: fuck summer camp.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bonfire

**Author's Note:**

> My apologies if I get any info or personalities wrong. I'm not an avid watcher of the show. Just tell me if something feels off and I'll see what I can do to fix it!
> 
> This story came out a lot less horrific than I originally planned... :/

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _20-8-18-15-23 8-9-13 9-14 20-8-5 2-15-14-6-9-18-5._

Dipper gasped upon waking up and his hands tightened around his throat. He tried to will his body to calm down. Each breath felt like a personal hammer to his rib cage and his heart was beating out of control; he could feel it against his chest. His throat burned and his stomach bubbled. Before he knew it, Dipper was doubled over and spewing blood.

It took him a moment to stop vomiting and to catch his breath. "Huh?" Dipper released his hands from around his neck. Why had he woken up like that? His neck was still burning too.

He tried to stand up, but his legs were wobbling and shaking and his stomach and head felt empty. He fell four or five times before he could properly get on his feet. A rope, tied in a perfect noose, was next to the tree that he had woken up against. He picked it up and saw that there were blood stains all over the rope. "What happened?" He looked around and swore underneath his breath. It was too dark for him to recognize what part of the forest he was in.

Dipper decided to walk left from the tree he woke up from. The direction felt right for some reason. Millions of thoughts ran through his head as he walked: where was he? Why did he wake up by the tree? What was the rope about?

In the distance he could see smoke raising up to meet the sky. Dipper let out an eased breath. Thank goodness for campers. He picked up the pace towards the smoke.

It didn't take long to make to the clearing where the campers were. There were four kids and a guy who looked around his age surrounding a campfire. The guy was deep into some story and all the kids were completely memorized by it. From their matching shirts, Dipper assumed that they were from some summer camp.

"And so the boy fought the demon, and they had a vicious struggle!" The guy started to thrash around and imitate the fight between the boy and demon. The kids jumped in surprise when he almost landed in the fire. The guy suddenly stopped jumping around and stared with wide eyes at the kids. "And do you know what happened next?" The kids simultaneously shook their heads.

Dipper walked closer to them. The campers were too immersed into their story apparently. They didn't even glance in his direction as he approached them.

Behind the children, Dipper heard leaves slowly begin to crunch. A silhouette was slowly getting closer and closer to the group. As the figure came closer to the light, Dipper could see a rope hanging from its hand.

"Uh, guys?" Dipper walked closer to the group. They still ignored him. "Guys, somebody's coming." The guy continued to tell the story and the children continued to listen with bright, all-watching eyes.

The figure was right at the entrance of the clearing. Dipper jumped in front of them and waved his arms around. "Hey, he's right there! Get up, come on!"

The approaching man then jumped out in front of the campers. The children screamed and jumped straight out of their sleeping bags. The storyteller and the man with the noose laughed and high-fived and after getting over the additional fright, the children laughed also.

The man put the noose around his neck and pretended to be choking. Everyone laughed again.

"Was there really some kid who was hanged here?" One of the girls asked. The guys shook their heads.

"No. Just some story that they tell to keep dumb kids out of the forest."

Dipper stared at the noose around the man's neck and the one in his hands. They were identical sans the blood that decorated his.

The burning sensation in his neck intensified suddenly. He grabbed at his throat and looked up at the campers. The children were gathering back up in their sleeping bags and the storyteller was dousing out the fire.

Dipper reached out to them. His throat felt like it was getting tighter by the second. "H-Help…" He stammered out. They still ignored him.

White spots floated in front of his vision before everything went dark again. Dipper woke up in what felt like seconds later though, next the same tree with the same bloodied noose at his feet.

He could hear a loud laugh echo through the night from the direction of the campers.


	2. Camp Director

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _2-9-12-12 9-19 12-15-22-5 2-9-12-12 9-19 12-9-6-5._

Dipper picked up the noose again and ran back to the campsite. He could feel blood dribble down his lips, but he had no time to be concerned. The laughing stopped once he reached the clearing. The fire and sleeping bags were there, but the campers were gone.

Dipper paced around the fire and weighed his options. He could act like a civil-minded adult and wait until morning to try and navigate his way through the forest and find help, but he had not grown up to become a civil-minded adult.

He thought about the campers instead. He kicked a sleeping bag. "Weird," Dipper muttered to himself. The way they had ignored him had been chilling. No, "ignore" wasn't the right word. None of them had even so much as acknowledged his existence. It was like they couldn't even see him. Like he was some type of apparition or someth—

"NO." Dipper ran to the nearest tree and touched it. He could feel the rough bark underneath his fingertips. A leaf fell down from the tree and he caught it. It had a smooth stem with pointy needles.

He ran to the sleeping bags. He could still feel the padded material on the inside and the slick material on the outside of the bag though.

Dipper put his hand over the campfire and sighed with relief. He could feel the warmth radiating from the flames. His panic managed to die down some. The out-of-body experience he had when he had accidentally given his soul away had resulted in everyone ignoring him and not being able to touch anything. This was different though. He couldn't float around and everything felt normal. He felt normal.

Maybe it was the campers who weren't normal.

"Who laughs at someone hanging themself?" Dipper muttered to himself. On that thought, he held up the rope closer to the fire's light to examine it.

The rope was a faded shade of white and blood was mainly at the end of the noose. He counted the coils. Thirteen. "Hangman's knot," he murmured. Had someone really been hung? The only people he had seen were the campers, but they all looked fine.

He touched his neck. It was still burning. Had _he_ been hung? It explained the burning and the blood, but the theory didn't make sense either. How was he still alive if he had been hung?

"Good question."

Dipper started and dropped the noose in the fire. It popped and sizzled and immediately caught flames.

He slowly turned around. It was the guy who had been telling the story. Dipper looked around. There was nobody behind or next to him. The guy had spoken to him.

"You… can see me?" The guy laughed and put his hands on his hips. The laugh was familiar.

"I could see you the entire time, dip shit." He laughed again. "That should be your new nickname, Dip Shit!"

Dipper blinked. "Okay?" The man stopped laughing.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing. I should be asking you that."

The man walked over to Dipper. "You don't recognize me at all?" Dipper studied the guy — messy, flaxen hair, a gunmetal eye peeked out from his bangs, his shirt was wrinkled, and there was the slightest metallic, coppery smell coming from him, but that could have been the bloodied burning rope.

Dipper shook his head. "Nope."

The guy grabbed the front of his jacket and shoved him to the ground. Dipper flung his arms out to try and get him off, but the other guy was faster, locking his arms down and sitting on top of his legs. "Think harder!"

Dipper tried, but the guy just wasn't ringing any bells. "I don't know you. Get off of me!"

He smirked. "I see that you're still rude." He slammed Dipper's arms back on the ground. "How could you forget about me? I'm the most monumental thing that has ever happened in your pathetic little life! Without me, your summer would've been boring!"

"I already said that I don't know you!"

"You seriously forgot about me Pine Tree? I'm hurt."

Dipper's eyes widened. "B—?"

"Yeah, literally in the flesh and blood! It took me a long time to possess this body, and let me tell you that it was worth it. Best part is I can still hear the guy scream sometimes, especially when I do this." Bill removed his hands from Dipper and proceeded to bend one of his fingers back until it snapped. Dipper was sickened while Bill seemed amused. "Oh man, I wish you could listen to this. Music to my ears Pine Tree."

Dipper shuffled to get out from underneath Bill. "Don't break his fingers."

Bill grabbed both of Dipper's legs. "So you're telling me what to do? Who gave you authority over me? Last time I checked, I was the one killing you."

"Killing me?" Dipper's hand reached his neck. Maybe his theory was sensible.

Bill dragged Dipper back to him. Dipper's energy gave out after he tried to kick and push him. He felt overwhelmingly tired all of a sudden. He forced his eyes opened. Now was not the time for a nap.

"You should see yourself right now. This," Bill brushed his broken finger against the burn marks on Dipper's neck, "makes you look ten times better." Dipper winced. "I see you grew up on me. It was about time. You were really annoying when we first met, did you know that? You looked like a newborn and your voice kept changing every five seconds."

"I was twelve." Dipper forced himself to look around. The sky showed no sign of change, so it was probably around midnight. He couldn't see or hear anyone coming. The fire was still burning. Maybe it would catch someone's attention.

"You were a sorry excuse for a twelve-year-old. But I'm impressed at the same time. Not a lot of the idiots around here had the guts to face me."

"Yeah." Fatigue was starting to win the battle. Dipper was practically fighting with his body to keep his eyes open.

Bill slapped him across the face. "Wake up! We finally reunite after all this time, and you're just going to fall asleep at the reunion?"

"Sorry. Maybe the fact that you tried to kill me is making me tired." Dipper tried to sit up. "Speaking of which, could you explain what's happening?"

"Ooh, you're so mature now. I like it."

"One of us had to grow up."

"Shut the fuck up. Do you want an explanation or not?"

"Never heard you curse before," Dipper mused out loud. He found it kind of odd actually. Bill was notorious for saying off-color things, but he had never used foul language before.

"It's some weird compulsion that came with this body. The guy was cursing up a storm when I took it. Now that I think about it, a lot of weird stuff came with this body. Like I have this weird urge to peel an orange right now and for some reason before I broke my finger this guy kept going on and on about how symmetrical your face was. I personally think your right eye is bigger than the left one, but who cares."

Dipper's mind was too tired to keep up Bill's rambling. He did manage to wiggle out of the other grasp while he was distracted. Dipper didn't make it far though. Bill just pounced on him again.

"Do you understand the meaning of the word 'stay,' Pine Tree? Stop trying to run away or else I'm leaving."

"I don't see a problem with that." If Bill left, Dipper could jump in one of the sleeping bags, sleep, and then go to look for help or a way out the forest in the morning.

Bill laughed. "Keep making me laugh, it makes my ribs feel great. Bears and wolves are particularly hungry right now since they're about to hibernate or something."

"Wolves don't hibernate." Dipper's eyes were flicking closed.

Bill watched for a moment. Dipper actually went to sleep on him. In his mind he had pictured their reunion with a lot of screaming and blood and confusion. Well, there was blood, but just a little bit on Dipper's lips and chin. Not the full bloodbath that he had been anticipating. And there was only screaming at the beginning. There was certainly confusion though, mainly on Bill's part. The kid was supposed to be so scared that he wouldn't even want to blink. But no, he was asleep.

He had the _audacity_ to go to _sleep_.  

Bill huffed and picked Dipper up by his hair and dragged him closer to the campfire. "Time to wake up!" He yelled in his ear.

Dipper woke up all right. His eyes widened at the sight of the fire and he actually began to put up a fight. Bill dropped him to the ground again. "That's what I want to see!" He kicked his side. "Struggle for your life, c'mon!"

Dipper weakly reached his arm up to wipe the blood from his face. "You're insane."

"And you're talking in short sentences. Talk to me, tell me what's been going on. This is our reunion." Dipper tried to sit up, which only resulted with him being kicked and falling on the ground again. "Talk. Now."

"Okay, fine. Nothing new really happened lately. My sister's engaged and I'm debating on whether to go to college in California, Oregon, or Washington."

"That's it? You're just planning to drown yourself with schoolwork? What happened to that twelve-year-old pizazz that I used to like about you?"

Dipper tried to shrug. His ribs creaked as he did so. He gasped and touched his side. "I don't know. I just lost interest in supernatural stuff. Plus, my obsession was unhealthy and it kept endangering my family."

"'My obsession was unhealthy and it kept endangering my family.'" Bill mocked. He set his foot on Dipper's knee and sneered. "What the hell happened to my good old Pine Tree? Are you possessed right now? Is that you Sirael? Because I swear, if you corrupted my plaything, I am ripping your organs out and serving them as a stew for your disgusting hybrid children to eat."

"No, no, no. It's me!" Dipper rubbed his hand over his eyes. "I just—I don't know—grew up, I guess. I couldn't be twelve forever."

Bill knocked off Dipper's hat and pulled his bangs up. The birthmark was still there. Yeah, it was the Dipper Pines. He poked his eye. He got a bit of a scream from that. The kid still had dark bags underneath his eyes. They had gtown darker.

He forced his mouth open and looked inside. The campfire wasn't a good source of light, but Bill could still see dark blood coating his teeth and lips. He dipped his broken finger inside and tasted it. "Did you know that your blood tastes like metal? That is so weird."

"Yeah, I know that. Now please get your finger out of my mouth."

Bill bent down and licked the blood off of his lips and teeth just for fun. Dipper didn't do anything. He didn't even look at him. Bill bit his bottom lip as he sat back up and frowned. "You're so boring now. What do I have to do to get some excitement out of you?"

Dipper yawned. "I don't know." He fell asleep again. Bill considered actually burning his face in the fire to wake him up. But no, now was the time for a better plan.

When Dipper woke up, he was against the same tree with the same noose next to him. He felt blood bubble in his mouth again. There was no smoke or stars in the sky this time around.

He picked up the noose. It had a note attached to it. He held up as close as he could to his eyes.

_"Meet me at the campgrounds — BC."_


	3. The Blue Tent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _1-13-2-5-18 1-12-5-18-20._

It was actually fairly easy to locate the campgrounds. Dipper went farther down from the campfire and found another clearing filled with colorful tents surrounding a picnic table and a setup for another fire.

"Pine Tree, you made it!" Dipper internally sighed. He was still tired and he wasn't in the mood for Bill's antics.

"Look, can we do this tomorrow? I'm really, really tired."

"I know!" Bill hooked his arm around his and dragged him around the campgrounds. "But before you sleep for whatever reason, take a look at all of my hard work. No, shut up, you didn't do anything. Just because it's your body, doesn't mean that you did all the thinking that went into this shit." Dipper felt himself staring at Bill. Yeah, it was the same old Bill. For some reason, he thought that the demon might have changed. Physically, he did so, but mentally: nope.

"Sorry about that." Bill patted his shoulder and took him to the fire setup. "Right here is where I can summon any kid that I want." He pointed to a series of green tents. "The younger kiddos go over there." He pointed to some red tents. "And the older kids over there. They don't like to be mixed for some reason. I don't know and I don't care. I can't stand complaining. It's like rubbing lavender-scented sulfur in my eye."

"Yeah." Dipper was then dragged off to a large blue tent farther off from the rest of the grounds. "Who's this tent for?"

"Us, temporarily." Bill pulled Dipper inside of the tent and zipped it back up in a flash behind him. "Are you seriously that tired?"

"Yes, I am." It was too dark to see inside of the tent. Dipper groped around the floor for something. It felt like he was on a mattress without any blankets or sheets. There weren't any lanterns or flashlights that he knew of.

"You're different." Bill's voice came from behind. Dipper slowly inched forward. It suddenly dawned upon him that being in a closed space with Bill wasn't the best idea.

"Yeah, I think we established that already."

"No, not just bodily different. You're different all around. The old annoying Pine Tree would be pushing and screaming and demanding that I give back this meatsack's body. But you're just complaining about how you're so tired." The voice moved to the front of the tent. "You're not even gonna ask why I suddenly set up a children's camp in the woods or why you keep waking up by that tree?"

"I figured that I'll figure that all out by morning."

Bill scoffed. "You honestly think that you're going to figure all of this out in one day? You're still as cocksure as you used to be, I like it."

"Don't say 'cocksure' ever again." Dipper ran his hand through his hair. When he leaves Bill's camp he could buy a new hat. He didn't want to make a stop at that first campfire ever again. "And I know that I have to figure everything out because you aren't going to tell me anything."

Dipper felt a finger touch underneath his eye. He was a little at ease when he felt that it was a thumb and not the broken one. The thumb traced underneath his eyes, where the dark lines that he had collected over the years resided.

"Do something. Hit me. Spit on me. Run away. I know you want to. You don't like when people are in prodding in your personal space."

"I'm used to it. Have you met my sister?"

"Doesn't mean that you like it." Dipper continued his battle with fatigue as his face was etched and traced by Bill. The rim of his eyes, the bridge of his nose, and the contour of his lips received particular attention. "I seriously couldn't care less," Bill's voice managed to cut through the darkness nicely, "but what's up with you? Why are you so sad and depressing and mopey all of a sudden?"

"I-I don't know." Dipper tried to push Bill's hand away.

"Was that a stutter I heard? Don't hide secrets from me Pine Tree. Actually, yeah you can. Lie as much as you want! Let's make a game out of it." Bill's hand ran through his hair. "Who can be the better liar? I'm gonna win. But you're pretty dishonest yourself."

"This is why I was going to figure everything out in the morning. I knew that you were going to lie to me."

"Yeah, you're a little right. But you can ask anyway." The fingers tightened in Dipper's hair.

"Okay, fine. Why am I here?"

"You are a thread in a great tapestry that is too vast and intricate for your meat-filled head to comprehend."

"Wow. That explains everything. Thanks."

"Whoa, wield back on the sarcasm kid. You like having fingernails. It would be too bad if I just plucked them all off one at a time." Dipper stared straight ahead. It had been more than a few minutes, but his eyes hadn't adjusted to the darkness of the tent yet. It was all pitch black. He couldn't even make out an outline of Bill. "Why'd you stop talking? Scared?"

"Why do you keep asking me questions? Eager to know something?"

Bill fell silent. Dipper felt relief and uneasiness surge up in him at the same time. He carefully laid back down on the mattress and curled up into a fetal position. He was sure that the conversation had ended. The tent was actually pretty nice and secure, but that didn't stop some of the crisp autumnal breeze from seeping through. Dipper pulled his arms out of the sleeves of his jacket and hugged himself for some warmth.

He managed to rest some, but the gnawing sensation that eyes were on the back of his neck kept drifting him in and out of slumber. He also kept drifting through a state that felt like dreaming and being awake at the same time. He could see pale, pastel colors flow throughout the dream instances. It was the most pleasant dream that he had had in a long time. He suspected that the dream demon probably had done some meddling.

When Dipper officially awoke, he didn't feel refreshed. He never did when he slept nowadays, it was no surprise. But he felt better. A little. His throat was still sore and needed to wash his mouth out ASAP.

Dipper felt a hand on his cheek. "Open your mouth." Bill's voice didn't cut through the darkness like it had a few hours ago. It was quiet and considerate. Dipper thought that he didn't have volume control.

Dipper tried to shake the hand from his face. "Why?"

"Even though it was half-assed, I gave you a good dream. Your mind is swamped with nightmares. I thought that humans were supposed to take better care of themselves. I mean, this body came packaged with the weirdest dreams. Like he had this recurring dream that giant geometric shapes were going to cut his hands off." Bill laughed and lifted Dipper's head up. "It's ironic because I was a triangle who ended up stealing his body!"

Dipper squinted. He could faintly see what looked like Bill's eye. "You need to learn how to stay on topic."

"Why talk about matters concerning commonplaces when I can talk about five things at once? It's not my fault you're too stupid to keep up. Anyways, I want payment for driving your nightmares away. Open your mouth." Dipper made a point of keeping his mouth shut. "We could make a deal out of this. I can give you good dreams in exchange for small favors."

"I'm never making another deal with you again." Bill roughly stroked his cheek. Dipper could feel that his fingernails were dangerously close to his eye. He backed out of the touch a little.

"I promise that it's not even going to be bad. Just small favors. C'mon. Help me out and I'll help you out. It's obvious that your sleeping patterns have worsened over time."

Dipper closed his eyes. He couldn't believe that he was doing this. "You can only help me during really bad nightmares and these favors can't affect anybody else but me and you."

"Ooh, I actually like these terms. But grown up Dipper is smarter than younger Dipper. You would've made a nice like devil's advocate for me." Bill removed one of his hands from Dipper's cheeks and ran it over his hand. "You know how deals work."

Dipper took Bill's hand and shook it. "Deal." Even though there wasn't any hand-related fire, Dipper felt a shot of tingles travel up his arm.

"First favor: open your mouth." Dipper slowly opened his mouth. He had no clue where this was going. "Your blood tastes like metal, but it has this really coppery aftertaste that I like." Bill leaned down and licked his bottom lip. Dipper's mouth was too numb to react when Bill had licked him before. Now that he could feel his tongue running over his lips, his teeth, and his own tongue, he felt… weird. Bill snagged his bottom lip between his teeth and Dipper's fingers were twitching and he felt a shiver go down his spine.

"Stop moving," Bill hissed against his lips. Dipper complied. The sooner he got this over with the better. He tried to think about the extremes of the deal he had made. Bill could do anything to him now. Yet in exchange of getting some good sleep, Dipper didn't mind in the moment.

Bill broke him out of his thoughts by suckling his bottom lip. "What are you doing?"

"And then your lips have this salty undertone to them." Bill pulled back some and ran his thumb over Dipper's lips. "What was the last thing you ate?" Dipper thought back. He didn't remember. He didn't even remember the last time he had eaten. It must have been something sweet since Bill was going so crazy over it.

"Cheesecake," Dipper lied. The lie was random and unnecessary, but he had a feeling that if he had told the truth then Bill would've mocked him.

"You're telling me that they make cakes out of cheese? And you keep saying that I'm weird." Bill ran his finger over Dipper's lips. He stopped talking for a second. He had implied that he could still talk to the person that he had possessed. Was it like the time that Dipper had been possessed? No, he thought, it seemed different. Dipper had no attachments to his body when Bill had taken it over. Bill had said that he could hear this person scream. Maybe this guy's spirit hadn't managed to leave his body all the way or something.

"What's the point of making a cake of cheese and fruit? Do humans have to make everything unhealthy for them?" Bill paused again. "No, I'm not eating any. It sounds sweet and disgusting. And I don't care if your mother used to make them. I'm not eating sugared cheese for your benefit." Bill parted Dipper's lips again and Dipper felt his fingers run over his tongue.

"Arguing with yourself?" Dipper smirked halfway when he felt Bill pause his movements again. "What's he saying?"

"He was talking about how his mom used to make caked cheese when he was younger. Now he's talking about how homesick he is. I'm about to break some toes if he doesn't shut up."

Dipper tried to pull back slightly. "Are you done now?" Bill removed his hands.

"No. I'll be right back. I can hear campers waking up." Dipper only saw a flash of the outside world before the tent was zipped up again. It looked like the sun was rising and he might have seen a few kids exit some tents. He had a feeling that there would be consequences if he left the tent or even unzipped it.

Dipper curled into himself again and closed his eyes. Now questions and theories were starting to fill his mind. Why in the world would Bill start a summer camp for children? There had to be some ulterior motive behind all of this nonsense.


	4. How to Blow Off a Trifecta

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _23-5 18-5 15-6-6 20-15 20-8-5 18-1-3-5-19 12-1-14-1._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> | | |

The tent unzipped again and Dipper was thrown outside. He managed to catch his face before it met the forest floor. His side was another story though.

"I called Shooting Star. She said you were in therapy for a few years. So you're already beating me in the lying game? We barely started."

Dipper blinked a few times for his eyes to adjust to his new surroundings. He could now see many children, teenagers, and a few adults walking around the campgrounds and doing miscellaneous activities. Some were climbing trees, some were sitting in the shade and gossiping, and in the distance he could see a few cabins being built.

"Shooting Star? You called my sister? How?" Dipper got to his feet as quickly as he could and brushed himself off. "Can I call her?"

"Calm down with the questions buckaroo. You need to explain this whole therapy thing. She said that the reason you stopped visiting Falls was because of some intense therapy classes." Bill patted a random passerby's head, all the while he narrowed his eyes at Dipper. "She also said that she's proud of you for getting a summer job helping out at a kids' camp before you go to college in Oregon. Isn't that great? She's proud of you."

Dipper flicked his eyes away. Anywhere but Bill's gaze was good right now. He didn't like the look in Bill's eye. Even in human form, he still held an omniscient aura. Bill always had a way of knowing and doing things beforehand. It was one of the top things Dipper had hated about him when he was a kid.

"It, uh, wasn't therapy classes. No, I didn't take any therapy classes." Dipper felt his forehead start to bead with sweat. Was it hot in the forest, or was it just him?

"How did Saint Mary's Academy for Mentally Ill Boys treat your persistent depressive disorder, psychophysiological insomnia, and chronic nightmares, Pine Tree?"

Dipper felt betrayal plant a seed and thrive inside of him. He and Mabel had agreed that they would never talk about the academy to anybody outside of the family. At the time he had been embarrassed and humiliated beyond belief that his parents had the audacity to send him away to some boarding school for boys with mental disorders. Looking back, he didn't feel ashamed anymore. He just felt angry.

"How did you get Mabel to tell you that?" Dipper felt anger seep through his tone and he didn't care. If he ever managed to find a telephone he was going to have a long talk with his sister.

"Let's just say I do a pretty good impression of Stanford Pines. I also found out that you're here because you were considering taking over his business." Bill threw his head back and laughed. He frightened an incoming kid in the opposite direction. "I learned so much about you in one phone call! You better keep up if you want to learn more about me." Bill then turned around and walked away.

Dipper watched him for a second. He had to gather all of his thoughts together. They were jumping and racing around every corner of his mind.

By doing a Grunkle Stan impression over the phone, Bill had managed to learn why he had stopped visiting Gravity Falls and one of his reasons for coming back. But since they were in the middle of some "lying game" he could have learned more. Dipper didn't have the faintest idea of what other information that Bill could be withholding, and he was sure that whatever it was, it was going to be used against him.

While Bill had been gathering blackmail points, Dipper had been sleeping. He had another dream of sweet pastels. He hated to admit that he felt much better after two naps than he had after years at the Academy. 

On top of all of that, he owed Bill another favor. Two, if Bill let him go to sleep again before the day was up. And he had a feeling that each favor was going to get progressively worse than allowing Bill to stick his tongue down his mouth.

"Excuse me." Dipper moved out of the way for a girl to move a container of fishing poles.

"Sorry." Dipper ran to catch up to Bill.

He found Bill talking to a group of kids wearing matching green T-shirts with crow designs on them. Dipper caught himself staring at a few of the kids. They looked like the kids he found laughing at the campfire. He made a mental note to check them out later.

"Where's the phone?" Bill momentarily frowned. "Where is the phone?" Dipper repeated.

"It's rude to interrupt people."

"You're not a real person!" Dipper felt the stare of the children directed on him. He turned to them, gave an awkward smile, and waved. "Hey kids." The kids did not look impressed.

Bill slung an arm over Dipper's shoulders. "This is your new camp counselor. Say hello to Mr. Pine Tree!"

" _Hello Mr. Pine Tree._ "

"No, no. That's not my name. It's just Pines." Dipper stepped out of Bill's grasp. "And I never agreed to be a counselor here. I don't know a thing about counseling."

"You'll just be the day counselor, you don't even have to do much." Bill put his arm back over Dipper's shoulders and leaned towards his ear. "I'm trying to cut back on the threats, but I will pluck eyelashes and molars if you fail to perform your duties or if you try to leave this camp." Bill flashed a wide grin towards Dipper. "Understood?"

"Unders—" Dipper shook his head. "Wait, no. I'm not doing anything for you."

"You were smiling and shaking underneath my touch last night. Especially when I touched you here," Bill rubbed his thumb across Dipper's bottom lip. Shudders— _completely involuntarily_ —rippled down Dipper's spine. Bill shrugged and removed his hand. "Oh well. Belladonna, hand me my vaguely surgical instrument."

Dipper looked back down at the kids. A little girl with a freckled face and dark hair was holding up a large pair of tweezers in her hands. She clicked the tongs together twice and reached up to hand them to Bill.

Dipper backed away from Bill and the tweezers. "Okay, fine. I'll be your day counselor. Please don't tell me that this is how you hired everybody else."

Bill shook his head. "Nope. Everybody else volunteered. Who knew that there were so many nice and helpful meatsacks in the state of Oregon? They all came flooding in with themselves and their kids when they heard about how successful this camp was." Bill put a hand on the little girl's head. She was still holding up the tweezers. "You can put those away Belladonna, thank you."

Dipper crossed his arms. "Why am I the only one getting threatened around here?" He looked back at the kids. Minus their eerie stares, they didn't look mistreated. They all looked fed and bathed. So now not only was Bill running a camp, but he actually had good conditions and was treating everybody well in the camp.

Something was definitely going on.

"Because I like you and then I don't like you at the same time. But don't worry, the dislike is definitely weighing out the like." Bill's smile widened by a fraction. "Don't let this smile fool you. I finally got to peel an orange and this stupid smile hasn't gone down since."

"Wow. Okay." Dipper scratched the back of his head. Bill was still smiling, the kids were still staring, and Dipper still felt awkward. "So, are we done here? Can I work now or something?"

Bill grabbed his arm and pulled him in for a kiss. Dipper at first felt a nice but annoying tingly sensation, then he felt mortified when his mind reminded him that he was outside in front of a bunch of children.

Dipper pushed Bill off of him and caught his breath. "Your mouth still tastes like a slice of heaven. Now we're done. Go help organize the race and I'll meet you there." Bill then turned back to kids without interruption.

Dipper lingered for a moment just in case Bill had a sudden change of the mind. He didn't. Dipper then went in the general direction that he had come from.

He managed to find a water pump. He felt a little better with the taste of salt and metal out of his mouth and off of his face.

Dipper realized that he should have asked for some sort of instructions from Bill. The campgrounds were much larger than he had thought and he had no clue where or when the race was going to be held.

He tapped the nearest kid's shoulder. The kid glared at him. "What?"

"Sorry to bother you, but when is the race starting and where?"

The kid pointed at the ground. "Right here in ten minutes." He then sprinted away to a group of boys.

Dipper looked around. There wasn't any setup for the race. Was he supposed to do it? He had no clue what day camp counselors were supposed to do. "At least it's something to add on my résumé," he muttered to himself. He chuckled too.

"Are you talking to yourself?" Two little girls with pigtails were staring at him.

"Uh, no." They glanced at each other and then walked away.

"Gotta stop talking to myself."

"You do." Dipper jumped back. He could hear Bill's cackle right in his ear still. "I can't get enough of your face when I scare you, kid!" Bill's expression turned serious suddenly. "Ready for the race? I want to make a bet."

Dipper looked back. "What rac—" There was a checkered starting line and a group of teenagers in red shirts gathering by it. Dipper blinked a few times. It was best not to question things. "Never mind. And if your bets are anything like your deals, then no."

"They are actually. But with a bet you have an one-hundred percent guarantee that you're going to get whatever you want in return."

Dipper rolled his eyes. Bill was going to force him into the bet anyways. An argument would just be wasted air. "Fine. What's the bet?"

Bill pointed to the three teens getting ready at the starting line. Four or five more teens stood behind each one. Dipper inwardly winced. He hated relay races. He was always the kid in the middle and he always managed to bring his team down by precious seconds.

"This is just a simple relay race against factions. For the teens the factions are the Polar Bears, Grizzlies, and Pandas. I thought that pandas were oversized, fat raccoons, but I have been proven wrong." Dipper looked at the teens. He saw that the appropriate animal was painted on the back of their shirts. "Whoever correctly guesses the the winners in order wins the bet and they get to ask whatever question they want and tell the other to do something and the asked must answer the question and do the task."

"What if neither of us get a trifecta?" Dipper felt himself grow weary as he saw that the race was about to start. He had to guess correctly. He'd be damned if he had to do yet another favor for Bill.

"Then the bet's off. I'm going with Pandas, Grizzlies, then Polar Bears."

Dipper didn't have time to be logical. "Polar Bears, Pandas, Grizzlies," he spat out. He immediately regretted his decision.

This is it, Dipper thought as the race started. He was going to have to do three or possibly four things for Bill now. He was practically digging his grave now. Maybe one of the tasks that he had to do was to dig his own grave.

The race finished in seconds. A girl blew a whistle and raised her hand up after the last runner crossed the line. "In first place, the Pandas!" The kids with black-and-white painted backs cheered. Dipper internally froze. "In second place, the Grizzlies!" The brown-painted kids cheered.

Dipper racked his hands over his cheeks. "Ugh, I hate you." Bill had gotten a trifecta. He had an all-knowing demon mind versus Dipper's cluttered and confused adult brain. Of course he would get the trifecta.

"The feeling's mutual, kid."

"Stop calling me kid. I've been waiting nineteen years for people to stop calling me that."

"Don't tell me what to do kid." Bill was already walking away. "See you tonight!" Dipper was dreading the night more than usual.

*** * ***

Dipper managed to meet most of the camp staff while he wandered around. Lazy Susan was the cook and her kitchen assistant was her step-sister who was visiting town (she in fact was not lazy, but an overzealous worker). Some more out-of-towners were activity leaders and managers. He didn't manage to find many familiar Falls residents at the camp.

Night came faster than Dipper liked. A bell rang out for curfew and all the kids scattered to their respective tents.

Dipper chewed slowly on the slice of (suspiciously syrupy) cheesecake that Susan had served him. He weighed his options. Escaping the camp right now was not the best option. He didn't have a plan and Bill's threat laid heavy in Dipper's mind. He wasn't exactly afraid that Bill was going to do anything. He shouted out empty threats a lot and he seemed pretty limited power-wise in human form. Dipper found himself more afraid of the children than Bill. He couldn't get the way that the children were staring at him out of his head. They looked like they were looking through him. It was worse than being ignored by the first batch of kids.

The large blue tent stood out greatly against the sea of other tents. Dipper stared at the tents. Some of them had lights on inside and he could see outlines of people huddled together and talking to each other. He couldn't hear a word of what they were saying though.

Dipper took a deep breath and entered the tent. He caught a glimpse of the inside. There was indeed a large mattress and a lamp was sent off far into the corner. A new, folded blanket was on the mattress too. Dipper zipped the tent back up before Bill could start complaining.

"Took you long enough to get back here." Dipper sat down assumedly in front of Bill.

"I was looking around the camp."

"Do you like it?"

"It's pretty nice. Not what I was expecting at all."

"Your opinion doesn't matter to me. Question time!" Dipper could hear Bill clap his hands together. "What was it like at the Academy?"

Dipper felt his mind shut down briefly. "It was, uh, fine. Great. Really helped me with my problems, yeah."

"Answer honestly now."

"Okay. Honestly, I hated it there. The school was great, it actually did help me out lots. But the guys there, and especially my roommate, were horrible. It wasn't the fact that they were sick. They just had these horrible personalities."

"Wow. Thanks for venting out your feelings to me." Dipper felt the mattress shift from underneath him. Bill didn't seem to move anywhere though. He was probably getting into a more comfortable position. "Looks like I have a favor and a dare left."

Dipper wrung his hands together. "Just use them now. Tell me what to do so I can get it over with." Hopefully Bill wasn't going to be clever and store up a bunch of favors and tasks for later.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." The mattress shifted again. "So, for the favor, I have another question."

"Ask away."

"My little pottery teacher found two teenagers frolicking with each other near the lake. She said that a male camper was performing fellatio on another male camper. Now, explain to me what fellatio is. Pots wasn't so helpful with her definition."

Dipper gulped. "What did she say?"

"She said that they were orally stimulating each other. Now, I like using fancy words, but I don't understand her definition. How do you orally stimulate someone?"

"Well, um…" Dipper touched his cheeks. They were getting warm. "You seriously don't know?"

"'Oral' and 'stimulate' have Latin roots, of course I know what they mean. I just don't understand what they mean together."

"Well, they mean exactly what they mean. To orally stimulate basically means to put your mouth on somebody else so they can feel pleasure."

"Oh, like we were doing the other night. Let me tell you that your mouth is full of pleasures, Pine Tree."

"No, this is a different kind of thing. With fellatio your putting your mouth somewhere else, not on another person's mouth."

"Where are you putting it then? On their forehead? That does not seem enjoyable."

"No, not there either." Dipper wanted to slap himself. He was a grown man dammit. He should be able to explain this without blushing and stammering. "You're putting your mouth on their genitals."

"Genitals?"

"Penis, dick. Whatever you want to call it! Does that explain everything?"

"Oh. So you're just basically putting your mouth on that waste tube in between your legs?"

"Yes exactly."

"Oh okay." Dipper heard an unzipping. He looked behind him. The tent wasn't opening. "Do it to me. I want to know what it feels like."

"Huh? What? No!"

"Before you disagree any more, let me remind you that you still owe me one last task. Now hurry up before I die of curiosity. It sounds like fun because the two kids didn't stop for a while even after they were caught."

"I hate you." Dipper said again. "Next bet, I'm winning. And I'll make you do something absolutely humiliating."

"Good luck with that. I've been told multiple times that I have no shame." Dipper heard some ruffling. "Okay, it's out. Do the fellatio thing. Wait, do you even know how?"

"No. This is my first time doing this on someone else." Dipper's face temperature was increasing.

"Liar. I can hear it in your voice. Did you do it by a lake too?"

"No. It was this one time in the school, okay? I don't want to talk about it."

"Ooh. I'll remember that as a story for later." Dipper reached forward. He had enough conversation. He grabbed at Bill's thigh. "Higher up. You're almost there." Dipper scooted closer and reached higher. He found it.

Dipper closed his eyes and stroked his hand back and forth. He heard Bill gasp and hiss a few times. He picked up the pace. The sooner the better. He wasn't concerned with hurting him, Bill seemed like a masochist anyway.

Dipper felt Bill begin to stiffen up. He took a deep breath and leaned down. His mind needed a confirmation before he came through with everything. If Bill wanted to battle with twisted deals and logic, then Dipper was coming back with full force. "I'm only doing this because of what you said." He felt Bill shiver. It felt weird to be on the other side of the pleasure scale. Had Dipper really been shuddering and gasping like Bill had described? "If we do another bet, then you _have_ to do whatever I want. No exceptions or excuses."

"You actually might have my word kid. Now get on with it." Dipper put his mouth around Bill's length without another word. The demon let out a slow groan as Dipper sank down. "This is amazing." Dipper took the base of Bill's cock and stroked it. Bill moaned again. "I like this. Why haven't I thought of doing this before? I'm missing out on the wonders of the human body."

Dipper lifted his head up to take a breath. "Shut up please."

"Okay, fine." Dipper then took Bill in slowly and then drew him out even slower. He earned more hisses and moans in the process. From the way that Bill was starting to tense and clench up, Dipper assumed he was close.

Dipper gave a teasing bite at the tip of Bill's cock and he came. Dipper tried to move back, but Bill grabbed him by the hair and held him in place. Dipper felt cum get onto his lips and chin. He wiped it off as quickly as possible. Along with a new hat, he would be needing a new jacket.

The sound of breathing filled up the entire tent. Dipper's breaths were quick and quiet while Bill's were loud and erratic. Bill broke the silence with a laugh. "I know what I'm asking for tomorrow morning."

Dipper frowned and took the hand from off of his head. "Goodnight."

"I hear venom in your tone. And I pulled some of your hair out. I'm keeping it just so you know." Dipper grabbed the blanket and wrapped himself in it.

That night, he had a dream of darker, more intense colors than pastel ones.


	5. Hunt the Scavenger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _6-21-12-12 3-9-18-3-12-5._

Bill jumped on top of Dipper's sleeping body. "Pine Tree!" Dipper woke up immediately. "You owe me a favor!"

Dipper wiped the sleep out of his eyes and tried to blink. The tent seemed to have this permanent darkness to it. He had no clue where the lantern was anymore. He doubted that it worked anyway. 

"What do you want now?" Dipper was flicked in the forehead. 

"Don't be rude. I want to play a game. Let's go right now before everybody wakes up." Dipper was dragged out of the tent anyway. 

It was dawn. Every single tent stood still. Dipper would've thought that a staff member or a rebellious child would have been up, but no, the camp was like a ghost town. If Dipper didn't know that there were people at the camp, he would've thought it was empty. 

Bill was pulling him to where the cabins were. "Wait, weren't these just being built yesterday?"

"And my pupils finished all the buildings in one day. Isn't that something?" Bill opened the first cabin's door and pushed him inside. 

Dipper turned on the light and observed the cabin. It was completely constructed and looked perfectly sturdy. The cabin was furnished also and looked like it had a running water system. There was no way that the kids at the camp had completed the cabin so soon, unless they all had lumberjack genes or crazy teamwork skills. 

"The game is called hunt the scavenger or something. Dumb name, but I like it. Here's how the rule book's written: you can only move on to the next cabin after you found the item and you will be timed. If you find all three items in less than two minutes per cabin, you win. If not, I win."

"What am I looking for?" Dipper scanned the room again. Knowing Bill, the items were probably going to be ridiculous and-slash-or minuscule. It could be a hair off the deer head over the fireplace or a word out of the book that rested on the table. Anything was fair game. 

"Ooh, you're just going to jump in. Asking millions of questions is your style, why change it?"

"Because every question I ask and every vague answer you give gets me nowhere. Just tell me what I have to find."

"Three statues. That's all."

Dipper raised an eyebrow. "Got it. Start the timer or whatever." 

"Timer starts when you take your first step."

Dipper took another moment to examine the cabin. He spotted a statue leaning against one of the feet of the bed. He took big steps over to it and held it up to Bill. It was a statue of a woman with long, flowing hair sitting on a throne.

A smirk slowly spread across Bill's face as he handed over the statue. "Go on to the next cabin." Dipper didn't hear Bill follow him. 

He looked around. The cabin was exactly identical to the last one all the way from how the fire crackled to the grooves of the deer head's antlers. It made Dipper a little anxious. But, like he said, he didn't have time to question things. He had to find the next statue. 

This one certainly wasn't by the bed. He looked underneath the bed, the table, the rug, over top the fireplace. Nothing. 

He started going through smaller places. There was a wine bottle on the table. He looked inside of it. The bottle was completely empty. He opened the book next to it. There was a square-shaped hole cut out into the pages. A small praying statuette was cuddled inside the book. 

Dipper picked the figurine out and turned to the cabin's exit. Bill was leaning against the doorway. He held the first statue by its head and was still smirking. 

He made a show of brushing his fingers against Dipper's as he took the next statue. "Last cabin."

"I know." Dipper marched on to the next cabin. He was actually winning. Victory felt too easy though. There had to be a catch with the ending prize. Dipper should've at least asked what the award for the hunt was. 

The last cabin wasn't an exact replica of the other two. The deer's mouth was opened in this version, revealing a row of sharp, un-deer-like, not-herbivorous teeth. The fireplace's fire burned blue. 

Dipper turned away from the deer and started looking around. There wasn't any cutouts in this cabin's book. He rummaged through the nightstand's drawers. There were millions of tweezers and a peeled orange inside the drawer. 

Dipper closed the drawer quickly and moved on. 

There wasn't anything in or under the bed, table, or rug this round. Judging from how small the last statue was, this one was probably microscopic. He began examining everything closely, looking for details that he had missed at first.

"One minute's up." Dipper huffed and moved faster. How small was this statue exactly?

A sudden thought entered his mind: maybe it wasn't small at all. Dipper ran over to the table and stood on top of it. He scanned the room again from his new view. His eyes caught the place next to the fireplace. There was a faint outline next to it. Dipper jumped down and began to push on the wall. A wooden hand started to break away from the cabin's wall. 

"Thirty seconds."

"This doesn't make sense." Dipper kept pushing on the wall, the hand widened into an arm and then became a full body. Dipper pushed the body towards Bill without thinking. 

The statue had managed to be hidden in the cabin's wall. It had to be at least twenty or so feet tall. 

"Nothing makes sense in the age of man." Bill jumped up into the statue's lap and relaxed against its arm. "How'd you manage to figure the last one out?"

"I don't know. It just came to me, I guess."

"Nice explanation." Bill's eye narrowed suspiciously. "You didn't cheat did you?"

"No! There's no way that I could've cheated. How was I supposed to know that you would drag me out in the morning to do a sca—"

"Telephone's in the first cabin."

Dipper stopped talking. He didn't know how to react at first. He stared at Bill. Bill stared back. He fixed his mouth to say something, maybe ask a question, but he decided it was better to run outside instead. 

The first cabin's contents were all gone. A small table stood in the middle of the cabin with a telephone. He dialed his sister's cellphone number without a second thought. 

The ring only sounded once before it picked up. "Hello?"

"Mabel, it's me!" Dipper felt overwhelmed with emotion suddenly. He tried to calm himself down. "I'm sorry, it's me Mabel."

"Yeah, it's you! How's summer camp like? Cold? It's like in the middle of fall."

"Yeah, it gets cold at night. But listen, I need your help."

"Help with what? Did a bear or a giant attack the camp or something?"

"No, no. Did you get a call from Grunkle Stan the other day?"

"Yeah! He was asked about why you stopped visiting him. I told him about the school and stuff. I hope you don't mind."

"That wasn't Stan. It was Bill."

"Bill the triangle?"

"Yeah, Bill the triangle. Except he's not a triangle anymore, he's human." Dipper looked behind him. Bill wasn't standing in the doorway. Good. Hopefully he would get some privacy during the call. 

"Wha… Can you start from the top? I'm lost."

"I don't know how long I can call you for. Just get to Gravity Falls as soon as you can. Please, Mabel, please."

"I'm already there."

Dipper was taken aback. "Huh? What do you mean you're here? I thought you went to Southern California."

"No. I'm here."

"Well, if you're here, then come pick me up now. I'm in the woods somewhere. Hopefully it won't be too hard to find a huge campsite in the woods though."

"I'm here."

"Mabel, don't get all broken record on me now."

"Look behind you."

Dipper closed his eyes. He felt annoyance and frustration where fear should have been. He looked back towards the entrance of the cabin. 

Bill was holding a phone in one hand and an axe with another. "Looks like I do a pretty good Shooting Star impression too." He swung the axe faster then Dipper could react.


	6. Bad Guy Speech

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _14-15 5-24-9-20._

Dipper felt an immediate ache on the side of his head as he woke up. He tried to think back to what happened before he blacked out. The camp, Bill, the statues, and the axe were all jumbled together in his mind. He tried to make sense of everything and to will his eyes to open. He realized that he couldn't hear or feel anything.

Dipper did the civil-minded adult thing and started to panic. He couldn't handle any more out-of-body experiences. He really just wanted to go home. He wanted to meet up with Mabel and her fiancé at a cheesy, family-friendly restaurant and talk about important matters like the best designs for sweaters and how many pigs in America needed adopting. Dipper wanted to go to his great-uncle like he had intended to and talk business about the Mystery Shack and catch up. He wanted to talk to Grunkle Stan about the hardships of the boarding school himself and maybe touch on the supernatural too.

He never felt homesickness hit him so hard and heavy before.

Sensations started to return to Dipper slowly. His headache lessened some and he felt dizziness. He could open his eyes, but his vision was too blurry to really make anything out. His hearing came back and he could hear loud breathing that was not his own.

The breathing paused. "Finally waking up? It took you long enough. I know that humans are fragile for some reason, but you have quite a liability to breaking. I only hit you three times, and not even with the sharp part of the axe too. You fell to a pile of meat within seconds."

Dipper blinked rapidly. He couldn't be caught off guard by Bill again. His vision, though still blurred around the edges, came back. He flexed his fingers. They still felt numb and they were wrapped around something. The first thought that came to his mind was that Bill had him tied up somewhere deep in the woods where no one would find him as he faced inevitable destruction.

"Then again, I've made sure that you haven't really been eating or drinking properly. I should've told Tabletop not to give you any dinner the other night. You're putting up a lot of a struggle somehow. And could you look down, I refuse to have any more conversation with the underside of your face."

Dipper slowly lowered his head. He didn't want to move too fast or tilt himself the wrong way and intensify his headache. He saw that his hands were not tied up, but wrapped around Bill's neck. His eyes soaked in the scene beneath him with a new focus. Bill's clothes were ripped and he was bloody. Dipper's hands were caked with dried blood also. Despite all of the disturbance, Bill was smiling and not fighting Dipper off.

"Hey, I enjoyed this entire experience, but it's sort of hard to breathe and I need this vessel for later." Dipper stiffly removed his hands off of Bill and tried to stand up. He fell back and nearly landed on his head. Dipper felt his the side of his body land in a puddle of something. "You're not looking so good, Pine Tree."

Dipper's nose caught up with his senses suddenly. Whatever he had landed had strong stench of metal and bleach. "About to hurl," he muttered. He felt his stomach lurch.

"No, not now. We already made a huge stain on the carpet." Dipper heard Bill crawl over to him. He was rolled over to his backside and forced to look up at Bill. The smile was still there. "I kind of avoided it on our reunion, but I'm ready to tell you everything now."

"Tell me." Dipper choked and coughed. Even though he was almost weakened to the maximum, he felt anger at full capacity.

Bill chuckled and moved to sit on top of Dipper's legs. He grabbed his hands and held them up. Dipper could feel the flakes of blood and dirt stuck in his fingernails. "Never mind. Maybe not now, actually." Dipper growled in frustration and Bill hiccuped with laughter.

"Tell. Me. Now."

"Calm down, Pines, or else we're both just going to get messier and it's going to leave a worse stain on the floor." Bill placed on of Dipper's hands against his face. Dipper jerked his hand away. "Are you still putting up a fight? Give it up. I'll tell you some useful information if you stop."

"Fine."

"Good job." Bill took Dipper's hand again. "Let's start with the school and a little trivia game. First, what were the headmaster and headmistress' names at Saint Mary's Academy for the Mentally Ill?"

Dipper swallowed a few times to wet his throat. "Wilma Cipcic and Jim Joe."

"Correct. How much did you talk to Headmaster Joe?"

"Not a lot."

"That's too bad. I recycled a real principal-in-training's body to use. I thought that you would've recognized the body. It was a student from your school. But you're still too much of a self-concerned simpleton to notice things."

"No I'm not." Dipper pulled his hands away again.

"You said that you didn't like the academy. That's too bad, I wanted to make it a fun experience for you. At least you liked the camp though."

"Huh?" Bill laughed again.

"Confusion is my favorite emotion! I set up the school. Saint Mary's Academy for Mentally Ill Boys was never real! Isn't that something? I love the look on your face right now. It's priceless!"

Dipper gaped up at Bill as the demon commenced to have a laughing fit. The Academy had to be real. It was impossible for it not to be. Bill couldn't have set it up. The demon's domain was Gravity Falls; not even close to California.

"But how?"

Bill wiped a tear away from his eye. "I have unlimited connections kid. All I had to do was make a few deals, hype up your nightmares, have someone slip a brochure to your parents, and it was set. Do you remember your first day? I sure do."

"I fainted from exhaustion."

"You were faint the entire time! The entire place was just a giant lucid dream! I love twists." Dipper moved his legs. Bill didn't react. He continued to laugh hysterically. "I need to calm down kid. I'm getting myself all worked up. Okay, what was next? Oh yeah. The camp was all planned out too, but you probably figured that out at the last minute."

"Tell me about it now."

Bill stopped laughing. His lips were drawn together and his eye focused on Dipper's. "You don't want me to delve into a backstory? I had prepared an extravagant, evil monologue too." Bill shrugged. He shifted to get more comfortable on Dipper. "Oh well. Remember the kiss and the oral acts? All a part of the plan to bring you even closer to me. But I wasn't expecting for you to agree so easily though. That's why I was sort of surprised by your behavior. The Academy really managed to water down your fire."

"We made a deal." Dipper swallowed the phlegm forming in his throat. He hated the position he was in. Bill had the ultimate power and he couldn't do anything but watch everything unfold. "I had to agree with you to get something."

"Seriously? I'm generous. I could've given you something out of the kindness of my heart."

"What heart?"

"Now that you're getting your voice back, I suggest that you watch your choice of words. Anyways, everything was an illusion. I illustrated all of your nightmares and put them into human form at the school. That's why you had a grand time with the 'students' there. And I needed to seal everything here at the camp. You're bound here and even more so to me."

"Why?"

"So you can't get aw—"

"No. Why a camp?"

"Don't interrupt me again, got it? Camps have bucketfuls of free humans. And better yet children. It is much easier to raise an army of children than adults."

Dipper's heart sank. He had barely paid any of the children mind. He had been so caught up with himself and Bill. From the way that the children were acting, they were all under Bill's spell also. His heart sank ever more when he realized that there would be no way to help them. If Bill finished him off now, the children would be stuck as Bill's minions forever.

"But you know what frustrates me?" Bill's voice took on a new tone. Dipper didn't like the voice change. "For some reason, you won't die."

"Huh?"

"You heard me!" Bill stood up and looked over Dipper. "I have hanged you and poisoned you, but you're still alive like nothing ever happened. You woke up during the poisoning, did you know that? You even tried to kill me but collapsed right after. But, oh, the tables have turned again." Bill nudged his side with his foot. Dipper winced. "I'll be back in a moment."

"Where are you going?"

"You'll be there too. We just need to be properly dressed for the occasion." Bill leaned down to Dipper's level again. He touched his cheek. "It won't take long." He kissed him slowly, deliberately. And despite the muddled emotions and wavy sense of fear, Dipper still shuddered at the touch. He still sighed when Bill licked his bottom lip and then pulled away. "And your blood doesn't taste sweet anymore. Makes me sad." Bill stood and left without another comment.

Dipper laid dumbfounded on the ground. He couldn't process everything that Bill had told him. There had to be a lie somewhere in the explanation. Or maybe everything was fabricated. It just didn't make sense.

Footsteps resonated across the room. Dipper tried to stand up again. Pain shot through his head and he was immediately dizzied. He tried to fight his way through the haze. He had to move. He had to get out of wherever he was.

He felt a blow to the side of his head, in the same spot that Bill had hit him. Dipper fell back to his knees. A bag was placed over his head.

"Is he contained?" Dipper was hit again in the side. All he could do was cry out.

"Yes."

"Onward to the toll-houses."


	7. Real Cults Wear Black

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _3-9-16-8-5-18 1-12-23-1-25-19 23-9-14-19._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aka 'Long, Necessary Buildup for the Finale.'

Dipper was dragged into another room. The bag was removed from his head and he was greeted by the sight of three cloaked figures. He knew that they were mere children from the way their voices sounded. Two of them were around his height and the other didn't really fit into their clothes.

There was a moment of silence between them. Dipper couldn't figure out something to say for once. The children stripped him of his clothes and forced him into black robes akin to their own.

"What else were we supposed to do?" One of the children shrugged. Another sighed.

"We're supposed to cuff him, dumbass."

"Oh yeah." The children cuffed Dipper's hands and feet. They muttered amongst themselves and stood off to either sides of Dipper.

"Hey," Dipper called out. One of the children glanced in his direction. "What's going on?"

"No talking." The child turned back around.

"Just tell me what's going on, please."

"No talking." All the children turned their backs towards him. Dipper sighed. Looks like he'll have to use his wits.

Dipper looked down at the handcuffs. The chain that held the cuffs together was fairly long. The links nearly touched the floor. He wondered why he was given that much flexibility. The legcuffs didn't have much space in between them though. If he ever left the room it was going to be difficult to walk with the cuffs and the dragging robes he had on.

Dipper looked around the room. It was dark like the previous one he was in. Or maybe it was just an extension of the room. Or part of a long hallway. He honestly couldn't tell.

"It's time." The children took Dipper by his shoulders and dragged him forward.

"He's really puny for an adult." Dipper frowned at the comment. He shook his shoulders slightly and the kid that had spoken lost their grip on him.

"If he wasn't so weak, he'd probably beat all of our asses by now." Dipper liked the profane kid.

"What are your names?" The children paused and glanced at each other. With hoods obscuring their faces, Dipper could only guess what their expressions were. They could be nervous or angry, terrified or apathetic.

"Tyler," the profane kid answered. The other children turned towards him.

"Adam."

"Belladonna," the shortest child tugged on his robes and they continued walking.

"Belladonna? You're the girl with the huge tweezers."

"No talking."

"At least tell me where you're taking me." Tyler hit Dipper in the ribs. Dipper grabbed his side and would've fell over to the ground if the children weren't pulling him.

"No talking." Dipper bit his lip. The children didn't seem too far gone. They spoke monotonously and walked stiffly, but from their word choices, they were still kids.

"You guys don't have to do this. We can all escape together with the rest of the kids. We can defeat him if we work together."

The children paused again. Belladonna shook her head and tugged them forward. "No talking."

Dipper shook his chains to get their attention again. "Fine. You guys can be eternal servants to Bill. I don't care. And who on Earth would name their kid Belladonna?"

"Father Bill renamed me."

"Why would you let him rename you? Is this camp some freaky cult? If it is, that definitely explains the robes. And how long is this hallway?" Dipper tried to think of something else to say. All he could think of to do was let his mouth run. He couldn't think of a good plan and he was utterly curious about what Bill wanted. Maybe he was going to be executed in front of an audience. "Uh, am I going to be executed in front of an audience?"

"No talking."

"I'm going to take that as a no."

*** * ***

Dipper was pushed into the hands of another group of kids. They opened a door, turned a corner down the hall, and continued walking. Dipper tried to talk to them, but this group was completely silent. They didn't even react to his nervous chattering at all. He felt invisible again.

They finally reached their destination after a few more turns. Dipper tried to memorize the way back to the first room. It was only a few turns. It wouldn't be too hard to exit if he had a chance to make a hasty escape.

The room Dipper was ushered into wasn't dark. The ceiling was higher than the rest of the rooms and the walls were peeling with beige paint. Numerous paintings covered most of the walls. Paintings that Dipper didn't have time to focus on.

There was a wooden table in the center of the room with deer laying on top of it. They all were sleeping. One had a fawn close to its side.

Another group of kids collected him. They wore robes like Dipper's instead of hooded cloaks.

"You look great!" Dipper picked his head up. There was a small balcony overhead the room. Bill, in black robes, waved down at him. "Come closer, the party's about to start."

Dipper couldn't stand his ground if he tried. The new group was stronger than the previous two. They practically lifted him off of the ground to a spot that was directly underneath Bill.

"You know what I'm hungry for?" Bill licked his lips and rubbed his hands together. "Venison and disobedient children." Two of the people holding Dipper down left immediately.

Dipper looked around the room again. There was a stained glass window over the door that he had entered. It didn't look like good exit. Glass would get everywhere and he probably wouldn't make it very far if he managed to get out.

Tyler, Adam, and Belladonna were pushed inside of the room. "I heard you three broke your oath of silence." Dipper glanced between the kids and Bill.

"You're not actually going to eat them, right?" Bill laughed. The other robed people in the room laughed too. They all sounded like Bill.

"No. It's called a metaphor Pine Tree, you know I like jokes. Now stop talking. Enjoy your last meal."

"I'm not hungry."

"Good. Since we can skip the meal, we have more time for the events I had planned." Bill hit the balcony's railing. "Sit down everybody, let's get started!"

Pews appeared out of nowhere and all of the children sat. Dipper was left in between Bill and the children. He looked around at all of them. Every single face was expressionless.

"Welcome to our second meeting! Wait, no, _fourth_ meeting. And since this is our fourth meeting, you know what that means?" No one answered. "It means that we have all failed to kill this miscreant four times. Actually, more than two times. I just didn't feel like meeting the other times. You all know that we have to reach perfection. There can't be any half-assed efforts in our attempts anymore. He comes back kicking if you don't put down enough force."

All of the children nodded. Dipper shuffled around in his chains. Plan after plan shuffled through his mind. None of them had a good outcome. It seemed like it was near impossible to escape a room full of possessed people plus one demon.

"I know that we technically have as many tries as we want to eliminate this kid, but I don't want to waste any more time. Murdering someone gets kind of boring after the tenth round." The crowd nodded again.


	8. Cipher v. Pines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _19-15 2-5 9-20._

Bill took out a small mallet from the sleeves of his robe and gaveled it against the railing to order the already ordered room. "Let's move on to the next sequence. It's trial time!" The crowd cheered. Their shouts sounded tinny and uncanny. Dipper shuddered and started fiddling with his cuffs. Ominousness was filling the room too fast and making him too nervous. "Stop it. There's no keys to those cuffs. Your efforts are only chicken and futility."

Dipper looked down at the cuffs. There were markings that he couldn't make out on the edges where the chains were connected.

"Anyway," Bill hit the railing again. Dipper picked his head up. There was a bone in the demon's hand instead of a mallet. "Let's begin. The case of Cipher versus Pines in the late sumner, early fall of 20-time-is-a-stupid-concept is beginning now."

A person from the crowd stood and walked past Dipper. They climbed up to the balcony and stood next to Bill. "I believe that you'll find this voice much more pleasurable to listen to than my own, Pine Tree." The audience member removed the hood of cloak from obscuring their face.

Dipper's chains dropped to the ground. "W-Wendy?" Wendy's eyes were fixated forward like the rest of the crowd's.

Bill leaned over the balcony and smirked. He nudged Wendy's side. "Speak Red."

"Welcome back to the entry of the toll-houses, Pines. There will be twenty small trials in this case. If you are proven innocent, you will be released. If guilty, a specially selected jury will reach a decision on your sentencing and punishment."

That wasn't Wendy. It was her body and her voice speaking words she would never say, donning clothes she would never wear, and doing things she would never even think about. Bill was the ventriloquist and Wendy was the dummy, or so Dipper was desperately reminding himself.

"Onwards." The audience shuffled up to their feet. Dipper was grabbed by two people and carried out of the room.

The door no longer led back to the hallway. There was a new, significantly bigger room with cheery yellow walls.

"This is the toll-house of the tongue," Wendy announced. She stood in front of the room. "How deadly is the usage of your tongue?" The entire audience turned to Dipper and stared.

Dipper shook his head. "Wendy, snap out of it."

"How deadly is the usage of your tongue?"

"Wendy stop." Dipper pushed through the audience to get to her. "This isn't you and you know this."

"Shall we move on to the next house?" Dipper shook his head.

"Stop, stop. You're not some weird, robotic servant. You're Wendy. You can fight this. Come on."

"Onwards."

"Wendy!" Dipper tried to grab at her robes, but the people held him back. He was pushed into the next room.

Wendy stood in the front again. "This is the toll-house of lies. How frequent is your dishonesty?"

"Wendy, please just li—"

"Are you a sinner? A liar? Slanderer? Glutton? Lustful? Do you remember evil?"

"Wendy, shut up and listen to me!" Wendy stopped speaking. "You're going to snap out of this, I'm going to get out of these cuffs, and we're going to get everybody and get out. Okay?" Wendy didn't move an inch. She didn't react or blink. It didn't even look like she was breathing.

Dipper moved closer to her again. The crowd parted to each side of the room. Dipper managed to grab the sleeves of her robes. "Wendy, let's go. Maybe if we leave the campgrounds we'll be out of his jurisdiction and be free."

She slowly blinked and looked down at Dipper. Her eyes bored into his. They were not the same green as he remembered them being. "The jury will now reach a verdict. Jury, step forward."

Dipper tugged on her sleeve. "Wendy stop."

"We the jury, find Dipper Pines guilty of all charges." Dipper looked back at the audience. Stan, Mabel, and Soos were the jury.

Dipper let go of Wendy and ran over to them. "Guys, come on. The door's right there." Dipper grabbed his sister's arm and tried dragging her to the door. She didn't move at all. Her robe didn't budge either. It was like it was glued to her body.

Dipper waved his hand in front of their faces. No reactions. Dipper tried to push them. They would not move.

The door opened. Dipper didn't need to check to know who was in the doorway. "Like I said, kid, chicken and futility." Bill held the axe in his hand. He butted Dipper out the way and swung at Mabel. Stone and rock blasted off of her and she crumpled into dust. Bill bent down and scooped up some of the powder. "Statues are made to stand, not live." He blew the dust in Dipper's direction.

Dipper scrambled to what remained of Mabel. There was a slab of stone in her place. He allowed himself to breathe. His sister was hopefully still pre-honeymooning with her fiancé, Stan was still awaiting for his visit at the shack, and Soos was still in Portland. Dipper put his hand over his chest. His heart was beating erratically.

"The verdict was guilty. Let's start your sentencing. And look at that." Bill pointed to his wrist. "Right on schedule."

The audience were not made of statues. They all lunged forward with a new vigor. Dipper twisted around to run also. The chains connecting his feet tangled with the chains on his hands and he tripped. He tried to get up, but the crowd had beat him to the punch.

Someone managed to sneak a few kicks to his back before he was picked up. Bill walked to him, casually swinging his axe. "Your sentencing is…" He stroked his chin. "We already tried poison, burning, and hanging. Let's do all three and see where that takes us."

"Bill, w—"

"You look scared, Pine Tree." He grabbed Dipper's chin and laughed. "Will you start convulsing if I kissed you now?" Dipper took the third option: silence. Fighting or fleeing had gotten him nowhere and he wouldn't be able to think if he was in a panic. "I have to do this more often too. Who knew that the mouth was the most sensitive part of the human body." Bill slowly pressed his lips against his. Dipper felt numb. His mind stood at a standstill. Now was the worse time for his thoughts to freeze.

Bill squeezed Dipper's chin before pulling away. "Any last words?"

"Just one last thing."

"What?" Dipper spat on Bill's shoulder. The demon wiped it off and laughed again.

"Case closed." He pulled out a blindfold from his sleeve and tied it around Dipper's eyes.


	9. Fools Among the Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _1-14-4 12-5-20 8-9-13 2-21-18-14._

The blindfold was pulled away from Dipper's face. "Surprise Dip!" Dipper looked around. His sister had set up a little camp just for them. He smiled and hugged her. 

"You didn't have to do all this, Mabel."

She shrugged and waved her hand at him. "Uh, yes I did. I kept thinking what you would want to do. I knew that you would hate a pig-and-sweater-themed party in San Fran, so I quickly ruled out that out. And then I crossed out everything having to do with parties and the beach. And then it suddenly dawned upon me." She stroked her chin in mock thought. "What does my dear baby brother love the most? Oh, that's right. Oregon! And I don't have any idea why since you nearly died in the Falls, like, over thirty times now, right?"

Dipper chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. I know."

"Anyways," Mabel wrapped her arm over her brother's shoulders, "I figured that this would be the perfect going away gift." Dipper looked at the camp. The fire was up and roaring, there were two sleeping bags next to it, and a cooler was set off to the side. 

"It is perfect. Thanks." Mabel squeezed him and then ran off to a sleeping bag. Dipper joined her in the adjoining bag.

"Okay, so I've been meaning to talk to you." Mabel twisted a strand of her hair around her finger. "What exactly are you planning to do?"

"Uh, I don't know. I think Oregon's the best choice. Costs the least."

"No, no. Not that. With the Shack?" Dipper raised an eyebrow. 

"What are you talking about?"

"Right when we passed by the 'Welcome to Oregon' sign all you kept asking was 'Are we going to the Shack?' and 'Are you going to Grunckle Stan's?'"

"Well, first of all, I don't talk like that."

"You so do."

"No, I don't."

"Whatever. Maybe you should talk to Stan tomorrow. You can take over the Shack."

Dipper shrugged and looked into the fire. There was something nostalgic about the way that the flames leaped and danced around. Then again, the smell of wood burning had always held nostalgia to him. "I don't know about that."

"C'mon. It's perfect! You get to take over the Shack and solve mysteries and Stan gets to retire and go on vacation. He's been wanting to do that since forever. And then I don't have to worry about you, because for some reason I'm more worried about you living in a college dorm than working day to day on supernatural projects. It's a win-win for everybody!" It didn't take much to persuade Dipper over. He nodded.

"Yeah, I'll talk to him tomorrow."

"Great!" Mabel jumped out the sleeping bag. She walked over to the cooler. "Do you see me with kids? I want a house full of pigs. Granted, children live an average of like eighty years and pigs live an average of eight, I just want a house full of pigs. Or just any farm animal in general." She pulled out two cans and tossed one towards Dipper. He nearly missed it. "I can call it Mabel's House of Pigs and Other Insignificant Animals That Could Also Be Found on Farms. And then all of my neighbors would call me Unstable Mabel because my house would constantly smell like manure and then they would avoid me and my fiancé and continue to talk about us when we move out due to numerous complaints." Mabel sighed and opened her can. A dreamy smile spread across her face. "Wouldn't that be nice Dip Dip?"

"Sounds like the ideal life."

"I know right?" She spat out her drink suddenly. "I forgot my backpack in the car!"

Dipper sighed and set down his drink. "I'll go get it."

"Thanks bro bro. And when you get back, tell me about this section of the forest. I heard that some spooky stuff has happened at the exact spot we're sitting at." Mabel patted the piles of leaves next to her for emphasis. 

"If this is supposedly a haunted spot in the woods, then why did you chose to camp here?"

"Nothing says camping trip like near death experiences!"

Dipper shrugged. "True. I'll be right back." She nodded and he walked on. Dipper let the crunch of leaves underneath his feet, the smell of campfire smoke, the caress of the summer-winding-into-autumn breeze, and the light of the moon and stars wash over him and overwhelm his senses. He appreciated the breath of fresh air that Gravity Falls brought. In that moment, everything felt nearly perfect. He had successfully overcome his problems, his sister had planned the perfect parting gift for him, and tomorrow he would get to catch up with his great-uncle and hopefully negotiate a deal with him. If all three journals were handed to him by the original writer when he went to the parking lot then his day would be above perfection. 

Dipper shook his head at himself. As if someone like him would achieve perfection. He was a bad luck magnet. 

Hands went around his neck. He grabbed the hands and tried to pry them off of him. "Get off!" He hoped that he yelled loud enough for Mabel to hear him. Another pair of hands caught his feet. Dipper fell face first to the forest floor. 

He struggled to get back up to his feet and to fight off his attackers. More and more people came out of nowhere and jumped on him. He was overwhelmed. There was no way that he was going to defend himself without any outside help. 

Something was pulled around his neck. Dipper tried to pry it off. His hands were pulled back and held behind him immediately. He tried to breathe as calmly as he could. Panicking wasn't going to help, but panic had already settled in. He felt his body starting to fight off the people without even thinking about it. He thrashed around and tried to get out of their grips and tried to undo the restraint around his neck and his hands. All of his efforts resulted in kicks and punches in various places. 

He stilled his body and tried to look around and listen. The people that had attacked him were wearing black clothes and masks. They were all so calm that it felt surreal. None of them were yelling orders at one another or shouting for him to shut up and stop moving. Had they all planned out attacking him for months or something? 

A restraint was stuffed inside of his mouth before he could yell again. Dipper tried to bite the hand and spit out the restraint. His jaw was closed by another set of hands and a cloth was tied around his mouth. Tape was added over his mouth. If he wasn't in such a dangerous situation, he would have rolled his eyes. Three layers of gags really was overkill. 

He was lifted up and carried elsewhere. Dipper's mind was pumping with adrenaline. His flight and fight instincts kept making his arms and legs twitch with anxiety, but nothing helped. There were too many people and they had managed to catch him perfectly off guard. Ironically, he was considering how he could actually be having a perfect day. It was funny how a perfect situation could turn into a very bad one in flash for him. Nothing ever seemed to go right now and days. 

The restraint around his neck tightened. He heard the crackle of a fire before he saw it. Dipper's eyes flashed with red, orange, and yellow leaping flames. The fight instinct returned full fledged to him instantly. He kicked at the people holding him up. His eyes couldn't leave the fire ahead of him. The flames got closer and closer to him. He felt the people swing their arms back in preparation to throw him. He closed his eyes and braced himself. 

Nothing happened. 

Dipper opened one eye. The fire was no longer there. The people were gone too. He moved his hands and found that the restraints were gone too. He removed the gag from his mouth and scrambled back up to his feet. With only the stars' light to guide him, he ran away. He couldn't pinpoint exactly where he was in the forest, but running away was his number one priority.

Dipper tried to think of all possible explanations as to what had happened. He couldn't find any. The situation was completely random. And from the way that the people had suddenly disappeared along with the fire, he figured that there had to be some sort of supernatural influence to it. 

He stopped running once he judged that he was a decent distance away and leaned against a tree to catch his breath. Just what would want to go after him though? He placed his his hand against his chest as he thought. Nothing in particular came to mind. He thought that he had been away from the Falls too long for anyone or thing to hold a serious grudge against him, but he had been proven wrong. Dipper couldn't figure out who was so angry at him though. And the person or thing knew that he was returning to Falls that very night. Everything must of have been planned to a fine art to get such detail and information. 

"Pine Tree, if we don't meet again." Dipper jumped at the voice and picked up his feet to start running again. He was snagged by the back of his jacket and thrown back against the tree. "I don't want to redo our introductions for the umpteenth time and I really love the look of confusion on your face right now. So, let's get down to business." The guy that had attacked him pulled out a rope from behind his back. "If this is not a foolproof plan, I am cutting hands tonight. You would think that having an army of your own puppets would get things done, but no. There are some things that you have to do yourself. Even something as mundane as killing someone."

Dipper felt a sense of déjà vu run through his veins. He tried to fight the man off of him. "Who are you?" He asked. He seemed like he was supposed to know the answer from the way that the guy had been speaking and looking at him. 

"Bill Cipher, your above average demon in the literal flesh and bones. My, you're more talkative now." The man smiled a wide, toothy grin. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. It's too bad that you won't be getting a funeral after our little session." Bill managed to gain the upper hand and pulled the rope over his neck. Bill then grabbed his hands and lifted him up. "Time loops of eternal suffering are fun and annoying at the same time." Bill grunted as he lifted Dipper up again and tied the other end of the rope to the tree. Everything was happening too quickly for Dipper to process. He grabbed the end of the rope and tried to untie it or loosen it from around his neck or something. He was not dying on his first night back at the Falls. "Wow, your human arms are weak. They have the strength and consistency of a slab of raw beef. How do you ever manage to survive with arms like these?"

Dipper stared at Bill and continued to struggle. The demon was having a casual conversation with himself as if nothing was going on. "Wow. That was such an uninteresting story." Bill covered his mouth to stifle a yawn and stretched his arms. He actually looked bored. "Anyways, shut up. I'm in the middle of something important. I need to see the exact moment the universe hiccups so I can prevent it from happening again. And yes, I do realize that it has taken me a while to do this. I was just busy the other times. My schedule is completely packed. I don't have a lot time to watch tedious things like this, in case you forgot what my plans were." Bill chuckled to himself. "You're right, you're right. I have plenty of time. Okay campers you can come out now. Don't be shy!"

The masked people in black returned. There were many, many more of them. They came from behind the trees and from behind Dipper. He tried even harder to get the rope off. There had to be a way. There just had to be a way to escape everything. Once he did, he could go back to Mabel and they could book it out of Gravity Falls and go straight back to California where everything had been all right. 

The people raced towards Dipper suddenly. He flinched as the first one reach for him. Dipper felt himself fall. He must have did something right or Bill must have done something wrong. Nonetheless, he was free. He tried to get back up to his feet again, but his stomach managed to beat him to it. Dipper gasped and held his hands around his throat. He tried to will his body to calm down. Each breath he took felt like a personal hammer to his rib cage and his heart was beating out of control. He could feel it against his chest. His throat burned and his stomach bubbled. Before he knew it, Dipper was doubled over and spewing blood. He had only been tied up for a few minutes at best, he didn't understand why he was having such a severe reaction.

It took him a moment to stop vomiting and to catch his breath. "Ugh." Dipper released his hands from around his neck. His neck was still burning though. He looked around. Everyone had managed to disappear again. 

He tried to stand up. His legs were wobbling and shaking and his stomach and head felt empty. He fell four or five times before he could properly get on his feet. Maybe it had been all the sudden stress that he had been put under that was making him act this way. Stress, panic, and death waere not a good combination for him. Dipper reached up and pulled the rope from off the tree. He chucked it off as far as he could into the night. 

Dipper tried walking away as fast as he could. His energy had been decreased by the tenfold. If he managed to find Mabel, then maybe his perfect day might continue. Perhaps he just needed a minor setback in order for things to get back on track again. 

In the distance he could see smoke raising up to meet the sky. Dipper let out an eased breath. He was actually happy to see smoke for once. He picked up the pace towards the smoke.

It didn't take long to make to the clearing where the fire was. It looked slightly different from where he and Mabel were, but hopefully there was someone else camping who could help him out. Dipper sat down next to the fire and wrapped his arms around himself. If he could just control his breathing. 

The fire died down. Dipper jumped back to his feet and looked around. The fire had completely dissipated within seconds. His mind was on high alert. The air chilled also and managed to sneak more than enough shivers down his spine. 

"Found it and fixed it." Bill's voice added even more shivers. Dipper felt another rope wrap around his neck. "Now let's finish this. Everything has been dragged out much too long for my liking." A sudden coldness from elsewhere numbed his thoughts away before he could try to put up another fight.


End file.
